Top official hopes labour agreement will be signed

Dubai: Vietnam hopes to sign a labour agreement with the Ministry of Labour in the UAE in the near future, the consul general of the Southeast Asia nation told Gulf News.

Phan Van Thang said there are currently no labour agreements between the two countries, and that Vietnam "would like to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Labour" here.

"We hope that in the near future, labour relations and cooperation between the two countries will be promoted," he said.

Currently, there are 4,000 Vietnamese workers in the UAE, with almost half of them in Dubai working in construction, fisheries, garment factories and hotels, according to Phan.

While salaries offered to labourers are considered satisfactory by Vietnamese workers, those offered to skilled workers in the UAE are not attractive enough, he said. "The basic salary for [skilled] workers in the UAE is not comparable to that offered in Korea, Japan, the UK and the USA," he said, which makes those countries more attractive destinations for Vietnamese workers. "It is reported that a semi-skilled Vietnamese worker in the UAE gets Dh800 to Dh900 per month".

Some Vietnamese workers consider the wage level in the UAE and the Middle East as insufficient compensation for the hot working conditions, said the consul general. "Vietnamese skilled workers such as carpenters, masons, steel-fixers and painters can get higher salaries," he said.

He added that some contracting companies in the UAE have recruited dozens of Vietnamese workers on an experimental basis "because they don't know [if they can] cope with the hot working environment and living conditions".

Another problem Vietnamese workers often face in the UAE is with the English language.

The consul general hailed UAE-Vietnam relations, describing them as "brotherly". "Vietnam [supports] the trade ties and economic cooperation between our two countries."

The two countries established relations in 1997, when a Vietnamese consulate was opened in Dubai, but a significant inflow of workers started in 2002, according to the consulate.

The import-export turnover between the two countries has been growing. According to the consulate, it stood at $150 million in 2004, and grew by 33 per cent to $200 million in 2005. In 2006 it reached $250 million. Vietnamese exports to the UAE range from agricultural products to seafood, garments, textile and electronic equipment. UAE exports to Vietnam are primarily in vehicles, machineries, urea fertiliser and bitumen.